Food?
by Linwe Ringeril
Summary: This was a story I wrote for my friend for fun. Mary Sueish OC's that, yes, are supposed to be my friend and I. But that was the point, so excuse them. Mal and the crew run out of food and try to barter with some hostile bandits on a random planet.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly, Joss Whedon does.

**Chapter One**-

Malcolm Reynolds crouched beside the large storage container and rummaged through, squinting to see in the dimly lit cargo hold. Picking up a package, he bit the side and tore it, examining the contents.

"Nope. Nothing. Just some spices or somethin'." He threw the package aside onto the floor and stood, his hands on his hips.

"Well we need to eat somehow. What do you advise we do?" Shepard Book walked to the storage box and glanced at it. "Don't we even have any of those protein packets?"

"No, we don't." Mal uttered, annoyed. "That was the point of me rummaging around down here for the last hour, and I didn't find nothing." He turned to the Shepard, who shrugged.

"Are we near any planets that could offer us some assistance?" he suggested.

"I don't know." Mal walked to a panel on the grey wall and pressed a button. "Wash? You there?"

"Yessiree, Cap'n." Said the pilot's voice over a speaker. "What's cooking?" Mal frowned.

"Absolutely nothing."

"Oh right, sorry. What do you need?"

"I need to know if we're near any terraformed planets? We got to get some food quick, or all that muscle of yours may start to look like a tasty entrée…"

"Haha, Mal. That's not necessary. I'd rather not resort to Reaver behavior… but uh…we are about a day from a planet if I can keep up this speed."

"Ok, I'll get Kaylee on that." Mal started to walk from the panel.

"Hey Mal?" Jayne's voice over the speaker stopped him. "If it comes down to it and we don't have any luck with this here planet, I volunteer Simon to be ate first!"

"Hey!" Mal heard Simon's faint protest.

"Hopefully, Jayne, that won't be necessary."

--

"Captain, you said there was food on this rock?" Jayne wiped his damp forehead and looked around, squinting under the glaring sun.

"I said it was terraformed, Jayne, I didn't say it was a buffet." Mal said as he stepped off the ramp of the ship holding a box of money from their last job, from and stood beside Jayne. He figured it would be enough to cover any food they would need. "I think I can make out some buildings over there among the trees, do you see them?"

"I see 'em," Zoe said, tying her long hair back. "But hot damn, this planet is sweltering."

Simon lifted his hand to visor his eyes and squinted into the distance. "Looks like a forest to me." he shrugged and blinked.

"All the more reason for us to move on, don't you think?" Mal said with a dry grin, and then took off walking toward the lumps on he horizon, hoping it was a settlement.

A half hour later, the four sat to take a rest by a group of boulders, and had not gotten any closer to the possible town.

Mal took a swig of water from his canteen. "Zoe, is that town gettin' any closer to you?"

"Nope," she muttered at him and drank from her water. "I'm gettin' hungry, how about you?"

"I've been hungry." Simon sighed, getting the last drop from his canteen.

"Well that's because you've been giving all your food to your wacko sister, it's your own damn fault." Jayne growled, taking a swig from his own bottle, which was covered by a paper bag, before stuffing it into his belt.

"River needs her strength, she's still recovering. I don't." He glared at Jayne, who stood.

"Right, well it's still your own damn fault. You'll be the first of us to drop if that there town don't turn out to be welcoming to strangers—" he cut off, turning to face the barrel of a gun pointed at his chest.

"'That there town' _ain't_ welcoming to strangers. You'll do well to remember that."

-

Holding the gun to Jayne's chest was a woman with two red braids hanging at her shoulders. She was dressed in slim black pants with a belt across them loaded with two more guns on each hip, an old fashioned grenade dangling by the ring, and a knife sticking out of the pocket. Her skin was dark olive under a loose white tank top but her light greenish eyes suggested it was only from the sun. There was a knotted band tattoo around her left forearm.

"Who are you?" she demanded, holding the gun in place. Jayne's eyes darted from her body to his belt, and the gun sticking out of it. Stunned, no one answered, but Mal and Zoe jumped to their feet, hands going for their own belts.

"Oh no, I don't think so. Boys?" At her word, twelve men pointing guns appeared from behind the boulders Mal, Zoe and Simon had just been sitting against.

"What is this?" Mal asked, looking around but holding his position. When he stood he could see thirteen horses tied up to a boulder about fifty feet away from them.

"My question first." The woman said. Mal hesitated and glanced at Zoe. If these were Feds in disguise they could be in major trouble—their weapons looked pretty top-notch for some roaming bandits.

"Ok, how bout this then?" the woman continued. "What's in that fancy container there?" she motioned to the box of money that Mal had thrust under his arm when he stood.

"Not much. We were just lookin to barter with whosoever we should find here." Mal said, suddenly aware that he had brought all the money they had earned. If she got it they would have nothing left until the next job.

"Barter for what?" she asked.

"Just food and drink. My crew and I aren't lookin for trouble." He cursed himself for not leaving some on board.

"Well you started trouble by stepping on this rock. Now tell me, what's in that box?" she wasn't giving up.

"Just some money. To barter, I told you."

"How much money?"

"Not a lot."

"I don't believe you." She said. "G, snatch that box and tell me how much is in it." She spoke to a man on Mal's right with light curly hair and a long nose. The man came toward him, gun pointed at Mal's head, and extended his arm in a grab. However, he wasn't quick enough, and with a glance, Mal tossed the box to his left, where Simon caught it in the air.

"Hey, no funny business!" moving her gun from Jayne's chest, she quickly pointed it at Simon and shot his right calf and his left ankle, making him crumple to the ground in pain. As soon as he hit the ground, Mal and Zoe had both their guns pointed at her, but she just shook her head at them.

"I don't think so. My boys outnumber you twelve to three. I wouldn't try it."

"What did you do that for?" Zoe demanded, eyes darting to Simon, who's socks were drenched in red from what she could see at the bottom of his pant-legs.

"I don't barter." She shrugged with a pleasant smile.

"Crazy bitch…" Jayne mumbled, looking down at her face.

"Watch your mouth," she pointed her gun back at him and he jerked backwards. "Now, I suggest you get on your way now, before I feel like shootin someone else. Take the bleeding one, boys. We're outta here."

"You can't do that!" Mal cried in desperation. "Do you have any food at all? You can keep all the money, but all we ask is for some food that can travel well."

She looked him in the face for a moment and then glared up at Jayne. "Why are you still standin here?" Quickly, she launched her knee into his crotch and turned when he hit the ground. "Let's go." One of the men had led a horse over the where she stood. Mounting, she called for the others to follow.


	2. Some Explanation

Disclaimer: I still don't own Firefly, Joss Whedon (what an effin quitter) does.

Chapter Two-

When Simon woke up he found that he couldn't move his legs. Sitting up too quickly, he put a hand to his forehead and saw that the bottom of his right leg was bandaged with a white cotton material; his left ankle was as well. The blots of red on each other the bandages reminded him of what had happened. He was covered in a coarse heavy blanket and didn't appear to have his clothes anymore.

Blinking, he saw that he was on the dirt floor of a small house, the walls a white concrete. Bright sunlight was still glaring through a small square window. Beside his feet were two long bullets sitting on a red-stained cloth, dried blood on the sleek metal.

"How much is it?" the woman's voice filtered into the room through a doorway to his left, and he immediately shot back down and closed his eyes.

"Probably enough to get a good one." Said a man's voice.

"How can you be sure? Those Alliance doctors cost a pretty penny." Her voice was worried.

"Tom said that his father had it too and that the clinic charged only a bit less than we have."

"Well how long ago was that? Tom's twice my age."

"I could ask…"

"Yeah. You could." Simon heard footsteps and the closing of a light door, followed by a sigh from the woman. He stayed still.

After a small "clunk" he footsteps came into the room where he lay.

"Wake up, boy." She said, her voice close to his face. He didn't move. "I know you're awake, don't try and fool me. I heard you shufflin' when I was talking in there." Simon opened his eyes, only to meet with her piercing green ones.

--

"Wash? Hello? You there?" Mal called into his walkie-talkie. No response. He looked at Zoe and Jayne. "Wash you hear me?"

"What did he say he was going to do?" Zoë asked.

"Nothing, just stay here." Mal put the walkie-talkie back into a strap on his belt and looked around. "I know this is where we parked."

"Well this is just great. We're gonna die here for sure! We got no food, no water, no money, and no ship!" Jayne kicked the grass with the heel of his shoe.

"And enemies with our doctor." Mal finished.

"I wonder where Wash is," Zoë mused. "He wouldn't just take off without tellin' us you know."

"Musta been trouble." Mal sighed.

"You all seem to attract a great deal of trouble, don't you?" All three of them swung around, guns in hand, to see another woman that bore a striking resemblance to the one that took Simon. "Hey, put those down! I mean no harm." She had long red hair like the other woman, but it was tied into one ponytail and it was longer, reaching down her back. Her skin was somewhat lighter and her eyes flashed bright blue in the sun.

"Who are you?" Mal asked. "The last redhead that popped up outta nowhere didn't turn out to be meanin us no harm."

"I know. I heard what happened from a friend of mine that works for her. I'm actually here to help."

"How?" Zoë questioned.

"I can get you some food and drink, and I might be able to help you get your doctor back."

"What about our money?" Jayne asked, taking a step forward.

"Just follow me, my part of the settlement isn't far in the other direction." She turned and walked to a lone tree where two brown horses emerged from behind. Mal and the others followed, glancing at each other.

"I don't know about this, Mal," Jayne whispered while they walked. "She looks an awful lot like that crazy broad from earlier."

"I know, but I don't think we got much of a choice. We gotta trust her. For now."

"How important is the doctor?" he looked to Zoë.

"How important is your money?" she said. He opened his mouth to reply but stopped, nodding.

"Now look here." The woman said. "I've got two horses so we need to share, that ok?" Mal nodded for them.

"Right then." She mounted her horse and Mal jumped onto the other, followed closely by Zoë. Jayne looked from one horse to the other, and then gave Mal a dirty look while climbing on behind the woman. "I'm Kaylin, by the way." She said.

Just before she kicked the horse's sides her ponytail swung to the left, and he saw a strange dragon tattoo on the back of her neck.

--

"Ain't I a good shot?" the woman asked, setting down a tray of bread and a mug of water in front of Simon and then picking up one of the bullets and bringing it close to her eyes. Simon looked at her grimly and put some bread into his mouth. "You know, you lost a good amount of blood out there. Coulda died, I reckon." He saw her eyes rest on his large bicep. He gulped.

"Yeah." He just stared at her, eating, not knowing how to respond.

"That shows you're strong, don't it?" she asked, sitting beside him and stretching her legs out in front of her. He still said nothing, trying to focus only on his food and not the way the underarm fabric of her tank top was so loose that he could see the side of her breast. "I wouldn't mind having a strapping man like you workin for me. You'd make good money. Probably better than you make workin for that other guy."

"I don't. I mean, work. For him. I'm just a passenger on his ship." He blinked.

"Good! Then you'd definitely be makin more with me than you make from him." She smiled and stunned him with her green eyes. "What do you think?"

"I uh… what exactly do you do?" he asked, gulping some water.

"We call ourselves opportunists, if you get my drift. We got a ship of our own, but it's been broke for a time. I was born in this here settlement, so we landed here to do repairs, and found some good work from passing people like yourself in the meantime."

"So you're scavenging thieves that prey off passing travelers?" he remarked, swallowing loudly.

"That's puttin' it dirty. Like I said, we're opportunists. And you'd be surprised just how many merchant ships like yourself come land here lookin to trade." She laughed. "It's good money for out here on the border-planets, but soon we'll be leavin here again."

"What is it you're trying to afford from Alliance doctors?" he said abruptly.

"I don't think that's any of your business." She said angrily, tossing the bullet back onto the ground and standing, about to walk out.

"Is someone sick? Sick with something you don't have medicine for?" he asked. She turned.

"As a matter of fact, you're right on target." He arched an eyebrow questioningly. "I'm sick."

--

"I found out she was sick when she came back with her ship about a month or two ago."

"What did you say she had?" Zoë asked, taking a bite of bread.

"Cancer. They found a cure for it about a hundred or so years back, and since then it's become less common. But a whole lot of people died from it back in 21st century."

"Maybe that's why she's so pissy." Jayne said roughly, pouring himself some more water.

"Yeah, I heard of that. It used to be all over the place." Mal said, sitting down with the rest of them at the table with a plate of bread. They had come back to Kaylin's town and then to her place, where they'd sat down to dinner.

"The meds are hard to come by these days," she said, swallowing. "Not many have it anymore, but we thought one of us may get it."

"'One of us?'" Mal asked.

"Moira's my twin sister. That's her name, by the way. We'd heard about a few in our family having it, but we grew up fine and healthy. Like I said, the first I heard of it was when she came back."

"Where did she go?" Zoë asked.

"I don't even know. She left a few years ago, but even then we weren't talking to each other." She drank some water. "When she came back to the other settlement, I heard about it from Geof, my friend who used to date her. He had moved to the other town with her when they 20, and was crushed when she just up and left. He said she'd been talkin' about feeling stifled, and wanted to go see other planets. I don't know how she got hold of a ship to actually do it."

"So that's why she took our money? To leave and get the meds?"

"I reckon so. I heard of her doing it to others like you. Mostly merchant ships, if I heard right."

"Well she can keep some money then, if it means her life." Mal started. "But we need to get our doctor back, and just a bit of cash, just to get us through to our next job."

"Then I'll help you get em back."

To be continued…..


	3. Some Action

Disclaimer: I still don't own Firefly. ::cries::

Chapter 3--

"What are you sick with?" Simon asked slowly, watching Moira in the doorway.

"Why should I tell you?" she asked, fiddling with one of her braids with the tips of her fingers.

"Because I might be able to help. I used to be a doctor at an Alliance hospital. Now I'm the healer aboard my ship." He said quickly, wondering if he should have divulged the information, because the way she turned back to him hinted at more than a little interest—she must be desperate.

"An Alliance medic? I don't believe you. Sounds too good to be true for someone I randomly shot and brought back here t'be some great doctor, which happens to be _exactly_ what I need."

"Fine, don't believe me." He blinked, annoyed. Every gun-slinger he'd met out on these border planets were all the same—selfish mercenaries, trusting no one to protect themselves from others doing the exact same thing. "If you're really as desperate for a doctor or medicine as you seem, it'll be your funeral." He said hotly, wincing when she tore the gun from her left hip and pointed it at his forehead.

"I wouldn't talk, yours may be first." The gun shook in her hand for a moment until she lowered it, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath while pushing red bangs from hanging in her eyes. He let out the breath he'd been holding and looked up at her warily.

"I can help you. Why would I lie? I can't walk or get away. I'm unarmed. I am no threat to you."

"Everyone's got reason to lie. For all I know, you could have a plan right now to slip out under my nose while 'helping' me. There's just too much at stake, and we don't have a lotta time left." She put the gun in the holster and sat back down beside him on the floor, facing him.

"What's that supposed to mean? How do you know how long you have to live if you haven't seen a doctor?"

"I can feel it comin on. My gut ain't never been wrong." There was silence as she looked down at her nails and put one in her mouth.

"Look," Simon finally said. "If you know you're going to die soon, then what have you got to lose by trusting me? I can assess your condition and see what I can do. We could even probably get you to Persephone or somewhere in the inner planets. You could get to a hospital there." She met his eyes and took her finger out of her mouth.

"What'll it cost me?" she asked. He smiled.

"You'll have to bring me back to my ship—I know where we landed. Then, you'll have to give us the money back."

"No. The money ain't goin nowhere."

"We need it though!"

"It's a living." She winked.

"It is for us too. We earned that money, you took it! It's not a lot to ask in return for your life!" he was frustrated.

"It's still a living."

"Then it's your death!" he pointed at her, his voice rising.

"Would you stop sayin that?!" she was annoyed.

"You're hopeless! You don't want our help, even though you say you do. You must want to die."

"Who in their right mind wants to die—"

"Look, stop. We can negotiate this. How about, we keep some, and you keep some. We split it in half." He made a slicing gesture with his hands.

"No," she waved the offer away with her hand. "Leave me three quarters. Those Alliance hospitals ain't cheap." He grimaced, she was right. She'd need at least three quarters of their earnings to pay for the treatment she needed. "So?"

"Fine." He settled with narrow eyes.

"Fine." He held out his hand to her and she shook it with a tight grip, her green eyes never leaving his grey ones. "Now," she began, "plan on tellin me your name any time soon?"

"Simon."

"Like from the Bible?" she raised an eyebrow, grinning at his confused expression.

"I suppose… never read it, actually. I don't find any profit in organized religion or myth…" he trailed off, wondering just who this woman was. "What's yours?"

"Moira." That was a start.

-

Jayne, Mal, Zoë, and Kaylin stood behind a group of trees marking the entrance to the other township. They had tied their horses up and were arming themselves, preparing to storm the town and retrieve Simon and the cash. It was clear to them that the entrance to the town was riddled with thieves working for Moira, as they had recognized some from the ambush earlier. Some of those men had also been conversing with others holding similar rifles.

"What kinda town is this?" Jayne asked Kaylin, peering through the trees toward the wall that surrounded the town.

"There's lotsa gangs around, but when Moira came back, they just as well took control of the whole settlement. They're everywhere, like Feds, but all they do is go on raids to other settlements around, pillagin. whatever they can get." She pushed a dagger into her boot.

"Why'd they come back at all? There can't be much to steal on this rock, no offense." Zoë asked, putting two guns in her belt.

"My thinkin is, they just came to get some easy cash for the journey and then set off again for some real money." Kaylin suggested.

"We're gonna make this as quick and easy as possible, Dǒngma?" Mal asked, putting his last gun in his belt.

"What's the plan?" Kaylin asked. "We can't just walkz in there and grab the cash. There's guys everywhere."

"Right, that's why we got guns." Jayne grinned, patting his belt where Vera was holstered. "This is Vera, she's my best gun." He held the massive rifle out to Kaylin, who smiled briefly and nodded, exchanging glances with Mal, who shook his head, smiling slightly.

"Sounds good, let's go." Zoë nodded as Kaylin stared in disbelief.

"What're we doin?"

"Lookin like we belong, for starters. Just keep your head down and walk until we're stopped, then—"

"Guns." Jayne finished.

-

"This was a Guǎn nǐ zìjǐ sooner than I expected!" Mal leaped to the ground, his chin smacking the dirt as three different bullets shot over him. He crawled behind a pile of crates next to a doorway to a shop. Zoë came crashing behind him, looking overtop the crate and firing twice before ducking again.

"Maybe we shoulda taken a bit more time to make a plan, sir." She suggested as Mal rubbed his jaw and peered over the crate, firing once.

"They're everywhere, we needa have someone find Simon quick!" he looked over the crate once more before launching himself at a man standing in front of them who was shooting in the other direction.

"How bout a distraction, sir?" Zoë called after him. "Then we could go ahead and find em. Maybe Kaylin's got an idea about which direction to go." He nodded as the man he'd attacked fell to the ground and looked to his left, where Kaylin was running with Jayne toward three men.

"They're both fearless," he remarked and then ran in their direction, calling their names.

"Or stupid." Zoë spun around and elbowed a large man in the gut before turning to shoot his companion, who was loudly creeping up behind her.

-

"This wasn't a good idea," Kaylin turned to Jayne, who was beside her pressed up against the same sidewall of a corner house. "We'll never get nowhere at this rate." She looked out from the corner and saw Mal leap behind a half dozen crates outside a shop.

"Maybe we outta charge em', you know, get em' off guard." He suggested, casting a glance at the empty patch of street next to them.

"That sounds just like our first plan." She looked at him skeptically until two bullets flying past the wall caught her attention.

"Gorammit, we gotta move sooner or later." He urged, taking out Vera and another gun.

"Fine, cover me. But we gotta get somewhere safe and reload soon. All of us, from the looks of Mal and Zoë." She stepped out from behind the wall and charged forward toward three men, firing expertly at each one. One shot caught a man in the shoulder, another in the forehead, and another in the leg. She never stopped running.

"Shiny work there," Jayne fell into step beside her, shooting at a man coming from the right, who tripped over his punctured ankle into another man running beside him.

"Jayne, Kaylin!" Mal was coming toward them, a man falling to the ground behind him. "We need t'get outta here quick and find Simon."

"I know where she lives, get over here," Kaylin motioned to the right where a cart of fruits and vegetables stood, abandoned because of the violence in the streets. They all crouched behind it, and Mal looked at Kaylin.

"Make it quick, Zoë's out there on her own." Mal said, pushing ammo into his gun.

"Right. My sister lives in a house about two streets from here, that way." She pointed to the right where an small intersection was. "Take the road going right, then you'll hit another crossroad. Go up that one and don't turn. She's the third house, but I'm sure you'll be able t'tell."

"I'll take that with Zoë. Jayne, can you two distract em' for us to get by?" Mal asked.

"Sure thing, Mal." Jayne finished loading Vera.

"Good," he looked at Kaylin. "Then think of somethin quick, will ya? Just somethin long enough to get us clear of this road." She nodded and looked around her, then our from the cart to the street, where Zoë was crouched behind the same crates, leaning out only to shoot at oncoming men.

"I got it. Mal, stay here till I tell you otherwise, and Jayne, follow me."

-

"My father was a shepherd here. That was the only reason we were on one of these damn border planets. Him, doin his 'good works' while ignorin his family mosta the time. It wasn't no way t' be raised for my sister and I." she was sitting comfortably against the wall with a cup of some kind of ale.

"You have a sister? Younger or older?" Simon asked, swigging from his own cup. He'd noticed that the alcohol, even this weak, had helped the pain in his legs.

"We're twins actually. She still lives round here, but we never got along once we grew up. I reckon she's livin in the town not far from here."

"I have a sister who's younger. Her name's River."

"Pretty name." Moira smiled. "My sister's Kaylin. I always liked her name better than mine."

"No, Moira's very… classy." Simon smiled back.

"I kept to myself when I was younger. We both did, always readin what my father brought us. Life out here just isn't much. The only thing bout it now that keeps me here is the money. Perfect for us mercenaries, right?" she laughed and raised her glass before drinking some more.

"That sounds like my sister. She's a real genius. What did you like to read?"

"Most anything. My sister was all bout history and whatnot, lookin at ancient people, how they were. It was interestin, but not my thing. I was more for how things work."

"So science?"

"That and myths. They're almost opposites, but they're doin the exact same thing, ain't they?"

"Yeah." He paused. "They really are."

"So uh, once you're all healed up, you'll take me to your ship?"

"Or before, yes. I could probably sit on a horse…"

"I woulda shot you in the arms if I'd know we'd need you." She laughed again.

"I actually think you'll get along with the crew—" he was interrupted by a loud crash from the other room. Moira, suddenly sobered, dropped her cup and went to the doorway.

"I'd appreciate if you'd kindly hand over my cash and my doctor, ma'am."


	4. Some Shiny Distraction

Disclaimer: Don't own Firefly. Blah.

Chapter Four—

Zoë joined them behind the cart of fruit, panting.

"What'd you leave me out there for, sir? There's too many." she crouched beside Mal, who was shooting over a stack of tomatoes with Jayne, and started to quickly reload her rifle.

"Kaylin's goin' to distract em,' get ready..." she finished loading and nodded to him. Kaylin was under the cart, loosening the breaks that held it from pummeling down the usually crowded market street.

"Mal, you ready--" she yelled, only to be cut off by Jayne's body, which fell heavily on her legs that were still sticking out from under the cart.

"Wǒde mā!" Jayne cried when he crashed down, clutching his shoulder. "Been shot!"

"Get off, we gotta move!" Kaylin used her knees to move him off her, back scraping roughly against the dirt ground as she slid out from under the cart. "C'mon, can you shoot?" she grabbed his hand and moved it from the wound on his right shoulder. He clutched Vera with the other hand, nodding.

"What are you gonna do? Those Liumang-goons are comin too quick!" Mal warned, wiping the dust from his eyes before cocking the gun and firing again.

"You just run once we're off," Kaylin bolted on top of the cart, shoving some apples from her path. Jayne looked up incredulously before she reached down and tugged his shirt, making him follow her up. "Lean forward."

"What?"

"Just do it, and hold onto somethin' while you're at it." She scooted to the centre of the cart, a few oranges falling on Mal and Zoë, while Jayne followed suit, looking around warily. "Forward, gorramit!" Nothing happened. "Mal, could you give us a push?"

He ran behind the cart and pushed his shoulders against the heavy wooden cart. It creaked and jerked forward. "Wǒde tiān…" he breathed as the cart moved forward to the downhill slope. Gaining speed, it plunged down the road, apples flying from the back, smacking men in the head and jaws. Jayne clung to the side bar, the quickly moving road beneath him making him dizzy.

"You're as goddamn crazy as your sister!" he shot blindly at the figures that whizzed past, trying to ignore the throbbing bullet in his shoulder. Kaylin smiled down at him. She was actually standing on the cart, boots hooked under the wooden bar. Surfing, she shot with her right hand and picked up fruit with her left, flinging massive grapefruits at the men in the street.

--

Zoë stood watching the cart plow through the men.

"We gotta move, lìkè!" Mal stood and pushed past her, and they sprinted down the hill after the cart, pushing through the commotion. The men all around them didn't even notice. Some were on the ground, while others were bustling after their fruit-wielding assailants and shouting. They moved like shadows, quickly stepping out of people's way before they saw them, never stopping until they reached the crossroads.

"She said go left, right?"

"Right, sir."

"Right?" he panted, confused.

"No, go left. That's correct." Zoë said quickly.

"Right then." They ran to the left, ducking between two buildings while some men ran past. Mal peeked out and then motioned to Zoë to follow him. They kept going straight, scanning the houses and holding their guns in front of them. Most of the dwellings were made of brown concrete with neatly-cut square holes for windows and doors draped in ragged-looking cloth. Each house they passed was completely closed up.

"Looks t'me like a ghost town, sir…" Zoë glanced around. "Don't see anymore of those men either. I think we're getting close—"

"I think you're right, but you may want t'take that part about seein' nobody back."

"Sir?"

"Look there," he motioned to the right down the street. There was a single house before a sharp turn and there were at least six men standing in front of it.

"Must be where she is. They always guard the boss."

"Right. Let's see if there's not a back door." Glancing around, his eyes found an alleyway that should have been obvious to him before. It was dark and narrow, being squeezed between the sides of tall houses from one street, and the backs of others from this one. Silently, they crept into the opening, warily stepping over a stream of filthy black water on the floor of the alley that wasn't exactly giving off a fresh scent.

"I can see why this isn't occupied," he said and looked down at his boots, hoping they were as waterproof as they used to be. "This lājī water is probably sewage…" Zoë made a disgusted face at him and kept moving.

"Did you count how many down this house was, sir?"

"No, it was standin' alone. Remember?"

"Yeah, then that must be it up there. I see a break in the wall, some light comin' through."

Sure enough, the break in the alley was the gap between the joint houses and the one that stood alone. When Mal and Zoë reached the end house, they surveyed the area in front of them, noting that there weren't any guards in the alley, but there was a wooden door on the back wall.

They stood still for the first time in minutes, looking at the shabby wooden door.

"Plan, sir?" Zoë asked.

"I'll kick it down—"

"But sir, how can you be sure it's really hers?"

"Can't." he shrugged. "Cover me."

"Right." She followed him quickly past the gap in houses, boots splashing noisily in the water. Biting back a curse, she refused to look down at her pant legs.

He looked at her and counted to three with his fingers. "One… two…" he mouthed, raising his dripping boot, "three!" he kicked it down with a crash and they charged inside. The room was small with two other doorways, the walls, a bare concrete and the floor covered in a battered straw mat. There were crates on the left side of the room and a few chairs. From the other room, he heard a small "clink" on the floor and then shuffling, followed by Moira bursting in unsteadily.

"I'd appreciate if you'd kindly hand over my cash and my doctor, ma'am." He said calmly, both he and Zoë pointing their guns at her. She had just been reaching for her belt, but stopped in mid-motion, defeated, raising her hands in surrender.

"Mal!" Simon's voice shouted from the other room. "Hey I'm in here!" Mal looked at to the doorway and then turned to Zoë.

"Don't let her out of your sight, dǒngma?" Zoë nodded as Mal pushed past a sour-faced Moira and went into the other room.

--

"I'm gonna be ruttin' sick!" Jayne tried to take a normal breath atop the zooming cart but his lungs couldn't grab enough air at their high speed. His only choice was to keep shooting and not look ahead or down. Kaylin was too preoccupied to hear his complaint. She kept flinging fruit at whoever she saw in the street that was lucky enough to have escaped the cart's wheels.

"Our ride's comin' to an end, Jayne!" she called to him shakily, feeling sick herself. Standing on top of a rickety cart pummeling down a hill was one thing, but shooting people with one hand and throwing with the other had left her dazed. About thirty feet ahead was a turn in the steep road—they were heading straight for the side of a large wooden house.

"What?!" he looked over the side, eyes enormous. "We're gonna die, dammit! We gotta jump!"

"No, don't! Just brace—" she was cut off by the front of the cart colliding with the side of the house. The speed at which they were traveling had been so great that at impact the cart broke into pieces, crashing through the upper part of the wall but shattering against the concrete cornerstone. Jayne, who had been bracing against the wooden bar of the cart, was tossed into the empty house, followed closely by Kaylin, who had not sat down in time. He had managed to land and roll to a stop on the floor, unharmed for the most part. Her body, however, had been tossed through the field of airborne wood fragments and various fruits like a rag doll, smacking against the ceiling of the dwelling and falling headlong into a cheap wooden table that crashed beneath her weight.

"Shit!" Jayne peered through the cloud of dust, coughing, and moving wood from his path as he crawled toward Kaylin. Each time he put weight on his right arm, he winced, white light in his eyes from the shot-wound that he had almost forgotten. "Hey," he found Kaylin face down on the floor so he moved to a sitting position and turned her over gently. There were scratches all over he face and arms, while her bottom lip was turning a nasty shade of purple. She was unconscious.

Jayne looked around in a panic. There could be people coming after them, he needed to get out. Feeling on his belt, he realized that he must have dropped his gun, while Vera was on his other side, but out of ammo. However, his hand had found his walkie-talkie, which, in all the excitement, he had forgotten. Grasping it but then stopping, he let it stay on his belt and tried to lift Kaylin instead. As soon as he had a firm grasp and pulled upwards, a searing pain shot through his shoulder and he cried out, letting her fall back onto the floor as he crashed down beside her.

"Gorramit…" he sighed, pulling out the walkie-talkie. "Mal?" his voice was hoarse. "Hey, you there or what?" For a silent minute there was no response, but then static crackled over the speaker.

"Jayne? Where are you? We got the money back and Simon."

"Some house that our cart crashed into… Kaylin and I. She's out cold, Mal, and I think I will be soon too. All this blood-losin is going t'my head." It was true, ever since they had ridden on the cart his head had felt light and his stomach, sick. He's thought it was just from the cartride, but the blood still flowing from his shoulder suggested otherwise.

"Is it down the hill? The house you're in?"

"Yeah, right where there was a turn at the bottom of the hill."

"Makes sense. We'll fly over."

"Wait, ya found Wash?"

"Yeah, he contacted me a few minutes ago—had to take off 'cause of Moira's bandits comin out to investigate the ship. He didn't want no trouble."

"Well hurry it up, all this gorram blood is makin me Fong luh…." He trailed off, feeling a stab of nausea and seeing the dirt-covered room in front of him go black.


End file.
